Chapter 58, Section Fifty-Eight: On the Right Track
These three people have no conflict of interest now. The previous discord between the regent and the emperor was fabricated by Zuo Qinghou due to his altered memories. The Sui Kingdom can be said to be united in purpose.
The MixC Hotel seemed to have vanished, and there was no sound from it anymore.
It was strange that Zhu Huantang would suddenly send out such a formal invitation.
Jiang Jinyi glanced at the contents, threw the post back on the table, and snorted, "Go ahead, let's see what kind of trouble he's causing."
Zhu Huantang's current General's Mansion is the former residence of Zuo Qinghou. He specifically requested it from the emperor. The furnishings inside are all left by Zuo Qinghou. Except for some better additions, nothing else has changed.
When Qi Lingjun entered, he felt as if he had returned to another world. He looked at the snow-covered rooftops and the bare trees with only snow-laden branches, and slowly came back to his senses. If Zuo Qinghou were still alive, then every season would be full of life.
Qi Lingjun lowered his eyes slightly, concealing his emotions, and followed the servant leading the way inside.
Upon entering, most of the officials were already there; those like Qi Lingjun, who were used to arriving early, were considered late. He nodded to a few officials and then sat down in his seat.
Knowing that he was aloof and preferred quiet, and since no one wanted to marry into his family or curry favor with him, few people came forward to exchange pleasantries.
As soon as everyone arrived, Zhu Huantang appeared unhurriedly. Everyone hurriedly got up to greet him, but as soon as they stood up, their expressions changed. A few quick-witted people immediately put on smiling faces again.
Etiquette must not be disregarded, so Qi Lingjun stood up according to custom, but without bowing or scraping. He simply watched quietly as Zhu Huantang helped Nan Jinping to the women's seats before returning. Qi Lingjun chuckled inwardly, thinking what a romantic scene of lovers. But on his face, he showed no sign of it, sat down with his cane, and continued drinking his tea.
Everyone knew the situation between men and women, so Zhu Huantang didn't say anything, and no one tried to force their way in. Therefore, the atmosphere at the table was harmonious, and when the wine flowed freely, they even played games like pitch-pot and archery.
Nan Jinping was incredibly busy among the women. Previously, she had a bad reputation due to her dissolute behavior, but now that Zhu Huantang had led her into the house, who cared about the fact that there was no such thing as a man or woman?
Apart from the female relatives of Minister Zhang of the Ministry of Rites, everyone else surrounded Nan Jinping. She responded to their probing questions and compliments, and she particularly got along well with the daughter of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works. Before long, they were calling each other "sister."
Seeing that everyone had had a good time, Zhu Huantang walked over to Nan Jinping, put down the wine she was about to drink in front of everyone, and said softly, "You're drunk, you can't drink anymore."
When has this general, who disregards even his own family, ever spoken to anyone in such a tone? Despite their surprise, everyone continued their casual conversation, but in reality, they were all listening intently to the sounds coming from the two people over there.
Nan Jinping was only slightly drunk, but she took advantage of the situation and pushed Zhu Huantang's hand away, saying coquettishly, "I can drink more than a dozen of your drinks without any problem."
Zhu Huantang sighed helplessly, glancing at the young lady opposite him. The young lady, feeling uneasy under his gaze, immediately rose and left. Only after she left did Zhu Huantang sit down, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear: “Previously, Sui was short of grain, while Wu had plenty. To be fair, without Sui, Wu's rice would have been sold at a bargain price, and many people would have died. We don't lack grain now, but we have more work to do in farming, and we still need to learn about taxation and trade. Wu thought that by controlling the grain, they could annihilate Sui in one fell swoop, but they didn't expect that Marquis Zuo Qing had already exchanged gold for grain among the people. The Ministry of Works must be incredibly busy. It would be easy for the Prince of Nanyang to intervene, but how can you intervene?”
Zuo Qinghou had said the same thing, and even the wording seemed exactly the same. Nan Jinping frowned slightly, and the more she looked at the person in front of her, the more she felt that he looked exactly like Zuo Qinghou. Her displeasure grew stronger, but she still said, "Go to the south to help with the water conservancy defense. You can irrigate the fields and defend the area."
It seems Nan Jinping really did her homework. Zhu Huantang reached out and held one side of her face. When she instinctively tried to pull away, she chuckled softly, "Everyone's watching."
Nan Jinping then became obedient, letting him brush the stray hairs from her forehead and put on a tender and affectionate act. Zhu Huantang said, "Not bad, you're quite clever."
Nan Jinping smiled coquettishly, rolled her eyes at him as she stood up, and said, "This princess is leaving. You can continue the performance here."
After the guests had all left, Zhu Huantang turned around and saw Qi Lingjun still sitting at the table. Zhu Huantang was slightly taken aback and asked, "Is something the matter?"
“There’s no need, she doesn’t like watching plays,” Qi Lingjun said.
Zhu Huantang chuckled: "What? Afraid she'll die by my hand?"
Qi Lingjun slowly shook his head, looked up and gazed deeply into Zhu Huantang's eyes, and said, "You are not that important to her." As Zhu Huantang's face darkened, he continued in a cold voice, "I am not that important either."
These words were like a slap in the face, mercilessly striking Zhu Huantang. Zhu Huantang wasn't someone who cared much about his reputation, but at this moment, there were only two of them, and both were acting for the same person. Even the most shameless person couldn't swallow this insult.
Suddenly, Zhu Huantang sat down, lifting his robe, and said with a charming demeanor, "Yes, you, me, the Regent, and some other people we don't know, we are all subjects under your skirts, there is no difference between us."
Zhu Huantang keenly noticed that Qi Lingjun's hand holding the cup stiffened. Like a jackal that had smelled blood, he bit into the wound and tore at it, laughing, "Lord Qi, you wouldn't... have never even tasted the flavor of Zuo Qinghou, would you?"
With a "clatter," Qi Lingjun's cup fell onto the table, spilling tea everywhere. He calmly picked it up, feeling utterly disgusted that Zhu Huantang spoke of Zuo Qinghou in such a tone. Instead, he said, "Yes, I haven't tasted it. General Zhu, who among those who have tasted it wasn't tricked by her? Who really tasted whom?"
The two were at loggerheads, one speaking more rudely than the other. Zhu Huantang remained unperturbed, coldly refilling his teacup before saying, "There's really no need to argue over her. Lord Qi has been by her side for many years and understands her best. We should have a proper talk; we can't be her pawns."
Zhu Huantang now only has the Sui Kingdom as his path, so naturally he has no ulterior motives. Qi Lingjun drank the cup of tea, his heart sinking down with it. He said softly, "I don't know where she is either, but if you conquer the Wu Kingdom, you will definitely be able to see her."
The idea of annexing a former powerful nation seemed like child's play to Qi Lingjun. Zhu Huantang frowned at him, but seeing that he still looked calm and collected, he suddenly burst into laughter and said, "Good! Sooner or later, I will march on Yingdu and dig three feet into the ground to find Zuo Qinghou."
Qi Lingjun, unusually abandoning his composure, tilted his head and squinted at Zhu Huantang, then suddenly smiled easily: "Your subject only wishes to accomplish the first half of the sentence."
War is not something that can be started on a whim; the change of power requires many people to adapt.
As the saying goes, experience is the best teacher. Fan Qi swiftly stripped the three powerful families of most of their snuff bottle trading rights. After all, without land and so much grain, they didn't need that much of it anymore. The three families didn't put up much resistance. After all, if they still held onto the snuff bottles, the commoners they looked down on would riot and devour them.
Of course, the three powerful families couldn't just relinquish power for nothing. They lost a considerable amount of money, so they sent Fan Qi to guard the border. It was tough, but it suited Fan Qi and the young emperor perfectly. Firstly, border guarding was Fan Qi's "specialty," and secondly, if the three powerful families really caused any trouble, the young emperor would be inside while he was outside, and the rest would be obvious.
Qin Sihai lived up to expectations, climbing to the cabinet in just five years. The three major families knew he was on the emperor's side, and although they didn't openly try to win him over, they couldn't help but use some underhanded means to curry favor with him.
That day, as usual, he draped a robe over the beautiful woman in the light veil who had appeared on the bed at some unknown time, then turned around and ruthlessly ordered her to be thrown out. As he stepped back into the room, the scent of incense wafted into his nostrils. Qin Sihai sneezed violently, took a large step back, closed the door, and asked, "Is no one in the study?"
The people inside were brought in after the servants had taken money, but Qin Sihai only ever threw them out; he didn't use any ruthless methods. So, his servants weren't afraid of him. They let the people in as usual and remembered to tidy up the room. The servants hurriedly said, "No one's here, no one's here. You can sleep peacefully, sir. We'll guard the door."
Qin Sihai said, "You can't even guard the gate while I'm not here?"
It was just a casual question, and the servant didn't think much of it. He lowered his head and lied, "I deserve to die. Next time I will definitely keep my eyes wide open and tell my men to keep their eyes wide open too, so as not to disturb your peace, sir."
Qin Sihai sighed and went to his study to rest.
The next day, the servant who had received the money followed the carriage to pick up Qin Sihai outside the Meridian Gate to return to his residence. While chatting with other servants, he saw a person dressed as a eunuch being hung up at the Meridian Gate. The officials below glanced at him briefly, then quickly left, their eyes glued to their toes, afraid of getting into trouble.
After inquiring, I learned that today Qin Sihai intercepted a memorial stating that the number of casualties from the floods in the south was less than ten. He dragged the eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial who was reviewing the memorial, and without even asking the emperor, he had the man hanged at the Meridian Gate.
The person behind it naturally wouldn't be identified, but everyone knew the truth. The Liu family had no choice but to drag the official who wrote the memorial to kneel before the emperor.
Thinking of his "gentle" conversation with Qin Sihai yesterday, and seeing the eunuch struggling and foaming at the mouth, the servant's legs went weak with fear.
It's not that his parents don't have a temper, it's just that they don't care about such trivial matters.
When Qin Sihai came out, he saw the servant's extremely poor complexion and asked with concern, "Did you suffer from heatstroke? You look so pale. Go back and rest."
The servant was so tongue-tied that he stammered in response and respectfully helped Qin Sihai into the carriage.
After getting into the car, Qin Sihai rubbed his temples and suddenly pulled out a token with ancient patterns from his pocket. He wondered how the matter he had entrusted to the Wanxiang Restaurant was going. He wasn't Zuo Qinghou, the kind of person who would dump his affairs on his subordinates and ignore them for months. He should at least check on it.
His fingers unconsciously traced the patterns on the token, which slowly warmed to his body temperature, somewhat like Zuo Qinghou's. He wondered how she was doing with her master.
He silently exhaled a breath of stale air. If she didn't want him to interfere, then he wouldn't. As long as he managed the Wanxiang Restaurant well, he wouldn't let her down.
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